“They
(two British soldiers) observed a man standing near a haystack with a revolver
in his hand. When he saw them prepare to fire, he ran behind a haystack, and
both men heard plainly a shot fired. They came to the haystack, they saw the man
who had run behind lying prostrate on the ground dying, with the revolver still
convulsively clutched in his right hand.”

The
inscription on a silver plate attached to the revolver read:

PRESENTED

BY

VICTORIA

QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND

TO

THEODORUS

EMPEROR OF ABYSSINIA

AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF HER GRATITUDE

FOR HIS KINDNESS TO HER SERVANT PLOWDEN

1854

The
above graphic record is provided in the fascinating book entitled “Coomassie and
Magdala” by Henry M. Stanley (1874) who had traveled to Ethiopia as a war
correspondent for the New York Herald accompanying the British force that was
led by Lieut. -General Sir Robert Napier in 1868. This article is based on his
detailed record of what transpired on the last day of Emperor Tewodros’ life as
presented in Stanley’s book, pp 449-464. It also presents the astute observation
and detailed record of the Magdala loot by Stanley in pp 454-462. It is to be
recalled that the purpose of the British force’s incursion into Ethiopia was to
achieve the release of British nationals imprisoned by Emperor Tewodros mainly
due to the fact that Queen Victoria failed to respond to his diplomatic
initiatives for increased ties between Great Britain and Ethiopia.

To
continue with Stanley’s account:

Emperor Tewodros’ body was drawn to the center of the spot where the British
regiment had halted. By then, the British army had full control of Magdala and
loud cheers of “Hurrah!” and “God save the Queen” were being expressed with
enthusiasm.

Although seriously wounded, Emperor Tewodros was still alive. Some Ethiopians
saw the body and cried out his name thereby identifying him conclusively.
According to Stanley’s definition of the body, it looked like “…. a native
seemingly half famished; clad in coarse upper garments, dingy with wear, and
ragged with tear, covering under garments of clean linen!”. He had been fighting
in disguise to avoid being shot by marksmen.

His
face was “deep brown” with a “well defined (and) thin mouth” and “two rows of
whitest teeth”. He had an “aquiline nose and his nostrils expanded widely as he
struggled to retain the breath which was rapidly leaving him. ” His “face was
broad, highcheek-boned, with a high prominent forehead, and overhanging brows.”
“ His hair was divided into three large plaits extending from the forehead to
the back of the neck…” The body measured “ 5 feet and 8 inches, and was very
muscular and broad-chested”.

A
subsequent post-mortem revealed that he had sustained “only a slight flesh wound
on his right leg,” and in addition “his palate was destroyed, the roof of the
mouth scorched, and a hole found through the back of the head” leading to the
conclusion that “a pistol fired in the mouth had caused the death”.

On
confirmation that the body was that of Emperor Tewodros, “the Irish soldiers
took hold of his legs, and roughly dragged him to the hammock, where, after two
or three gasps, he breathed his last.”

The
British soldiers present were mocking him but one of them “covered the bare
abdomen and folded the arms upon the breast”. Soon, the crowd around the body
grew bigger “trying to get a glimpse” of it including the former captives who
also confirmed his identity.

Sir
Napier rode up to view the corpse but no words of sympathy were expressed.

Stanley continues to write: “I strolled to where the dead body of the late
Master of Magdala lay, on his canvas stretcher. I found a mob of officers and
men rudely jostling each other in the endeavour to get possession of a small
piece of Theodore’s bloodstained shirt. No guard was placed over the body until
it was naked….Extended on its hammock, it lay subjected to the taunts and the
jests of the brutal-minded. ” On being informed of the situation, Sir Napier
gave orders that it should be dressed and prepared for internment the following
day. At the request of the Empress, the Emperor’s body was buried at a church in
Magdala after a brief ceremony conducted by his priest.

The
last day in the life of Emperor Tewodros started, most probably, around
mid-night on April 12, 1868 when he received a final ultimatum from the
commander of the British force, Sir Napier, demanding that the Emperor surrender
the following day (April 13) by 9:00 a.m. or face an attack.

The
morning of April 13 started with a brilliant sunshine followed, later, by heavy
rain and lightening, ending in the evening with a glorious sunset.

Having
failed to achieve the Emperor’s surrender, and on being falsely informed that he
had fled to Gojam, the British commander offered a ransom of “50,000 dollars” to
whoever captured the Emperor: dead or alive. The commander also took the
precautionary step of placing the 3rd Dragon Guards at the rear of
Magdala as “pickets to prevent the retreat of Theodore”. On April 13, the
onslaught by the British Army was in full swing. It comprised 1600 Europeans,
800 Beloochees, 800 Punjabees, 42 elephants, and numerous other beasts of
burden.

The
British army progressed rapidly with the use of its superior armaments and soon
captured Selassie and Fahla and by 2:00 p.m. reached the gates of Magdala which
was being bombarded ferociously by British artillery. Stanley writes that
Emperor Tewodros was noticed mounted on his white horse observing the progress
of the British army and encouraging his much dwindled loyal followers to put up
a final struggle. Stanley states that the Emperor shouted: “come on, are ye
women, that ye hesitate to attack a few warriors?” However, he had to make a
hasty retreat in view of the effective cannon balls wreaking havoc to his army.
Nevertheless, Stanley states that the Emperor and his few followers kept on
fighting up to the last minute firing their muskets until the British army broke
through the fortified Magdala gate.

As if
to confirm Emperor Tewodros’ harsh measures against his Ethiopian opponents,
Stanley relates that he witnessed 308 dead people “murdered by Theodore” on
April 9.

After the tragic event of
Tewodros’s death, the disciplined British army progressively deteriorated into
what Stanley called “ different kinds of military mobs”. Soon, the military mobs
spread all over Magdala in search of loot. They ransacked the king’s storehouse,
and moved to the imperial quarters where “the men picked up; then, examining the
article, pocketed it or threw it down; to be picked up, examined, and pocketed
or thrown away by others coming after them”.

From Stanley’s description
the plateau of Magdala was dotted with different kinds of dwellings, silken and
canvas tents, and what Stanley refers to as koord- like domiciles, cotes, etc.
Continuing his observation Stanley states: “ Each of these had mobs around it
commenting, gossiping, pocketing, analyzing, breaking into pieces, or tearing
into shreds whatever thing their vision or fancy lie upon”. The largest mob was
concentrated around the koord- like domiciles. The scene around these treasure
tents is described as “a pandemonium breaking out”. He concludes by making a
stinging remark not only of the marauding soldiers but also the avarices of
three missionaries, a Prussian, German and Russian mechanics that had secured
the treasure tents long before the soldiers arrived. The following is an excerpt
describing some of the articles that comprised the loot of Magdala.

Stanley opens his account of
the loot by stating: “To enumerate even the one-tenth of the articles scattered
about would be a task as tiresome as it would be fruitless.” He then continues
to give a glimpse of the overwhelming amount of articles spread in front of him.

“In
one of the tents was found the imperial standard of Ethiopia-a lion rampant, of
the tribe of Judah, worked in variegated colours. In another was found the
Imperial seal, with the same distinctive figure of a lion engraved on it. A
chalice, of pure gold, was secured by Mr. Holmes, on which was engraved in
ancient Ethiopic;-

THE CHALICE OF

KING ADAM LEGUD CALLED GAZOO

THE SON OF

QUEEN BEHUN MOGUSSA

PRESENTED TO KOSKWAN SANCTUARY GAONDAR

MAY MY BODY AND SOUL BE PURIFIED

15th
century.

The Abuna’s mitre, 300 years
old, of pure gold, probably weighing six or seven pounds troy weight; four royal
crowns two of which were very fine workmanship and worth a round sum of money;
were worthy things to be placed in a niche of the British museum. A small
escritoire richly ornamented with mother of pearl, was found also, full of
complimentary letters from European sovereigns, and state papers; besides
various shields of exquisite beauty. There were also an infinite variety of gold
and silver, and brass crosses, and censers, some of extremely elegant design;
golden and silver pots, kettles, dishes, pans; cups of miscellaneous
descriptions; richly chased goblets, of the precious metal; Bohemian glasses,
Sevres china, and Staffordshire pottery; wine of champagne, burgundy, Greece,
Spain and Jerusalem; bottles of Jordan water; jars of arrachi and tej; chests
full of ornamental frippery; tents of rose, purple, lilac and white silk;
carpets of Persia, of Uschak, Broussa, Kidderminster, and Lyons; robes of fur;
war capes of lion, leopard, and wolf skins; saddles magnificently decorated with
filigree gold and silver ;numerous shields covered with silver plates; state
umbrellas of gorgeous hues, adorned with all the barbaric magnificence that the
genius of Begemder and Gondar could fashion; swords and claymores; rapiers,
scimitars, yataghans, tulwars, and bilboes;

After
enumerating the above articles, the author brings to our attention the size of
the loot and the chaos and disorder that reigned all over the plateau. “ Over a
space growing more and more extended, the thousand articles were scattered in
infinite bewilderment and confusion until they dotted the whole surface of the
rocky citadel, the slopes of the hill, and the entire road to camp two miles
off!”

Before
the auction each commanding officer selected appropriate mementos for their
troops.

Early
in the morning of the third day, the looted treasure was ready to be auctioned
off. The pile of trophies was spread over half an acre. Present were Mr. Holmes,
a representative of the British museum; a Colonel Fraser, a buyer for a wealthy
regiment mess, and private gentlemen who have come ready with funds. As if to
give the reader a mental picture of the fierce bidding, Stanley writes, ”Armed
with ample funds, he (Mr. Holmes) outbid all in most things. When Theodore’s
shield, used by him in his younger days were offered for sale the bidding became
energetic and from 10 dollars it speedly went to 200 dollars, for which sum it
was purchased by Colonel Fraser”. The auction lasted two days and the money from
the sale was distributed among the non-commissioned officers. .

The
auction concluded, the loot of Magdala was loaded on the backs of fifteen
elephants and nearly 200 mules ready for the journey out of Ethiopia.

On the
fourth morning of the fall of Magdala, 30,000 Ethiopians descended Magdala to
the Dalanta plateau. That same afternoon as spectators took position on the
southern edge of Selassie ridge about 1000 yards away, the Royal Engineers
torched and destroyed Magdala. Fanned by the wind, three thousand houses with
their content perished in the flame. Stanley states, “The intense heat created
from the loaded guns, pistols, projectiles and shells thrown in by British
batteries exploded with a deafening reports, and projectiles whistled ominously
near us. Not one house could have escaped destruction in the mighty ebb and flow
of that deluge of fire.”

After
committing Magdala to the scorching flames the British army loaded with the loot
of Magdala started its march to the coast. As the rear of the regiment started
decent, “cheer after cheer broke from six thousand voices”.

The
return of the loot of Magdala has been an on going battle for Ethiopians and
others with a sense of history and justice. Considering the enormous volume of
historical manuscripts, books, priceless articles and personal items of Emperor
Tewodros that was taken out of Ethiopia, the current struggle through the
leadership of Dr. Richard Pankhurst to return and reinstate the loot deserves
support. AFROMET, The Association for the Return of Magdala Ethiopian Treasures,
with branches in Ethiopia and the United Kingdom, demanding restitution of the
loot, has already achieved the repatriation of Tewodros’s amulet, which was
given late last year to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies. In addition they are
actively campaigning to have a statue erected to Tewodros. Through the good will
and effort of the Reverend McLukie, a Scottish priest, and officials of St. John
Episcopal Church of Edinburgh, the “Tabot” of St. Michael, was returned to
Ethiopia in February 2002. Another area that demands a more organized and
increased attention and support is Ethiopian properties in the holy land, i.e.
Jerusalem, Jericho, and other urban centers in Israel in order to ensure that
Ethiopia's interests which date back thousands of years are duly protected.

Thus
ended the life of one of the most controversial and dynamic emperors in
Ethiopian history. Stanley provides an interesting glimpse of the most critical
day in Emperor Tewodros’ life. His book is an account of the British triumph in
fulfilling its mission of defeating Emperor Tewodros and in releasing the 61
captives with 187 servants and 323 animals. Stanley, however, fails to mention
the fact that the success of the British army was mainly because, by then,
Emperor Tewodros had lost the support of most Ethiopians due to his increasingly
harsh measures and also because some of the Ethiopian leaders of the time were
more interested in their own political objectives. It is interesting to note
that Stanley had a very dim view of Ethiopians with perhaps the sole exception
of “Prince Kassa” (later Emperor Yohannes) who greatly facilitated the British
Army’s mission in many ways including opening the way for its travel all the way
to Magdala without any resistance as well as by making provisions available for
procurement as needed by its force. Stanley also provides an account of the
meetings between the local chiefs and General Napier who was able to negotiate
his army’s travel unchallenged from the coast to Magdala.

Emperor Tewodros’ vision of a
united and strong Ethiopia as well as the protection of its rights to its
properties in Israel including the Der Sultan monastery remain the dream of all
Ethiopians for generations.